--- title: But, just as he was going to take out a piece of meat, he happened t… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: But, just as he was going to take out a piece of meat, he happened to look up and saw the skin of the grasshopper, which was so lifelike that it deceived him into thinking that it really was his friend on the wall, so he pulled his hand out of the pot and said, trying to laugh, “It is all right, Dab --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/6/40/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/) / [Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Sp…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/6/) / 40 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Spider and the Grasshopper., sentence 40 But, just as he was going to take out a piece of meat, he happened to look up and saw the skin of the grasshopper, which was so lifelike that it deceived him into thinking that it really was his friend on the wall, so he pulled his hand out of the pot and said, trying to laugh, “It is all right, Dabi, my friend, I was not going to eat anything, I just came in to see what the food was like.” **Who acts:** grasshopper, skin, hand, food · **What happens:** go, take out, happen, look up, see, be · **To what, where:** piece, skin, grasshopper, friend, wall, hand · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Spider and the Grasshopper.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (grasshopper, skin, hand, food), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg70959:6:40 # text = But, just as he was going to take out a piece of meat, he happened to look up and saw the skin of the grasshopper, which was so lifelike that it deceived him into thinking that it really was his friend on the wall, so he pulled his hand out of the pot and said, trying to laugh, “It is all right, Dabi, my friend, I was not going to eat anything, I just came in to see what the food was like.” 1 But but CCONJ CC _ 17 cc _ SpaceAfter=No 2 , , PUNCT , _ 7 punct _ _ 3 just just ADV RB _ 7 advmod _ _ 4 as as SCONJ IN _ 7 mark _ _ 5 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 nsubj _ _ 6 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 7 aux _ _ 7 going go VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 17 advcl _ _ 8 to to PART TO _ 9 mark _ _ 9 take take VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 7 xcomp _ _ 10 out out ADP RP _ 9 compound:prt _ _ 11 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 12 piece piece NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 obj _ _ 13 of of ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 14 meat meat NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 15 , , PUNCT , _ 7 punct _ _ 16 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 17 nsubj _ _ 17 happened happen VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 18 to to PART TO _ 19 mark _ _ 19 look look VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 17 xcomp _ _ 20 up up ADP RP _ 19 compound:prt _ _ 21 and and CCONJ CC _ 22 cc _ _ 22 saw see VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 17 conj _ _ 23 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 24 det _ _ 24 skin skin NOUN NN Number=Sing 22 obj _ _ 25 of of ADP IN _ 27 case _ _ 26 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 27 det _ _ 27 grasshopper grasshopper NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 28 , , PUNCT , _ 32 punct _ _ 29 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 32 nsubj _ _ 30 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 32 cop _ _ 31 so so ADV RB _ 32 advmod _ _ 32 lifelike lifelike ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 27 conj _ _ 33 that that SCONJ IN _ 35 mark _ _ 34 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 35 nsubj _ _ 35 deceived deceive VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 32 advcl _ _ 36 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 35 obj _ _ 37 into into SCONJ IN _ 38 mark _ _ 38 thinking think VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 35 advcl _ _ 39 that that ADP IN _ 40 case _ _ 40 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 38 obl _ _ 41 really really ADV RB _ 44 advmod _ _ 42 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 44 cop _ _ 43 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 44 nmod:poss _ _ 44 friend friend NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 obl _ _ 45 on on ADP IN _ 47 case _ _ 46 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 47 det _ _ 47 wall wall NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 48 , , PUNCT , _ 51 punct _ _ 49 so so ADV RB _ 51 advmod _ _ 50 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 51 nsubj _ _ 51 pulled pull VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 17 parataxis _ _ 52 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 53 nmod:poss _ _ 53 hand hand NOUN NN Number=Sing 51 obj _ _ 54 out out ADP IN _ 57 case _ _ 55 of of ADP IN _ 57 case _ _ 56 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 57 det _ _ 57 pot pot NOUN NN Number=Sing 51 obl _ _ 58 and and CCONJ CC _ 59 cc _ _ 59 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 51 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 60 , , PUNCT , _ 61 punct _ _ 61 trying try VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 59 advcl _ _ 62 to to PART TO _ 63 mark _ _ 63 laugh laugh VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 61 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 64 , , PUNCT , _ 69 punct _ _ 65 “ " PUNCT `` _ 69 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 66 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 69 nsubj _ _ 67 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 69 cop _ _ 68 all all ADV RB _ 69 advmod _ _ 69 right right ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 59 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 70 , , PUNCT , _ 71 punct _ _ 71 Dabi Dabi PROPN NNP Number=Sing 69 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 72 , , PUNCT , _ 74 punct _ _ 73 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 74 nmod:poss _ _ 74 friend friend NOUN NN Number=Sing 71 appos _ SpaceAfter=No 75 , , PUNCT , _ 79 punct _ _ 76 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 79 nsubj _ _ 77 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 79 aux _ _ 78 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 79 advmod _ _ 79 going go VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 59 advcl _ _ 80 to to PART TO _ 81 mark _ _ 81 eat eat VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 79 xcomp _ _ 82 anything anything PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 81 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 83 , , PUNCT , _ 86 punct _ _ 84 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 86 nsubj _ _ 85 just just ADV RB _ 86 advmod _ _ 86 came come VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 17 parataxis _ _ 87 in in ADV RB _ 86 advmod _ _ 88 to to PART TO _ 89 mark _ _ 89 see see VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 86 advcl _ _ 90 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 94 obj _ _ 91 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 92 det _ _ 92 food food NOUN NN Number=Sing 94 nsubj _ _ 93 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 94 cop _ _ 94 like like ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 89 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 95 . . PUNCT . _ 17 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 96 ” " PUNCT '' _ 17 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **go** | past · progressive | grasshopper | | | | | | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 2 | **take out** | to-infinitive | grasshopper *not said here* | a piece of meat | | | | | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent piece=Theme | | 3 | **happen** | past | grasshopper | | | | | | tree rules | | 4 | **look up** | to-infinitive | grasshopper *not said here* | | | | | | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus | | 5 | **see** | past | grasshopper *not said here* | the skin of the grasshopper | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer skin=Stimulus | | 6 | **is** | past | the grasshopper | | | | | lifelike *property* | tree rules | | 7 | **deceive** | past | skin | grasshopper | | | | | vn trick-59.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Patient | | 8 | **think** *speech: other* | gerund | skin *not said here* | | | | | that skin | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 9 | **is a** | past | | grasshopper's friend | | the wall | | grasshopper *nmod:poss* | tree rules | | 10 | **pull** | past | grasshopper | grasshopper's hand | | the pot | | | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent hand=Theme out pot=Initial\_Location | | 11 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | grasshopper *not said here* | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 12 | **try** | gerund | grasshopper *not said here* | | | | | | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 13 | **laugh** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | grasshopper *not said here* | | | | | | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 14 | **is** *in a quote* | present | hand | | | | | Dabi *obl*; all, right *property* | tree rules | | 15 | **not** **go** *in a quote* | past · progressive | grasshopper | | | | | | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 16 | **eat** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | grasshopper *not said here* | anything | | | | | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent anything=Patient | | 17 | **come in** *in a quote* | past | grasshopper | | | | | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 18 | **see** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | grasshopper *not said here* | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 19 | **is** *in a quote* | past | the food | | | | | what *obj*; like *property* | tree rules | One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree. **Text:** «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Project Gutenberg book 70959 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order. - ← previous: [sentence 39](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/6/39/) - next →: [sentence 41](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/6/41/) - ↑ back to [Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Spider and the Grasshopper.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/6/)